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September 19, 2012 - Image 4

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The Michigan Daily, 2012-09-19

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4A - Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4A - Wednesday, September19, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
TIMOTHY RABB
JOSEPH LICHTERMAN and ADRIENNE ROBERTS ANDREW WEINER
EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
FRtM TPED lY
Conveniently healthy
A farmers market on campus is beneficial for all
reshmen will find the dreaded "Freshman 15" hard to
avoid when self-serve ice cream and cookies are read-
ily available in dining halls. Step outside of the resi-
dence halls, and fast food chains can be found at every turn.
Central Student Government has taken major steps to provide
students with nutritious options for food by organizing their
very own farmer's market on campus. As students struggle to
seek out healthy food options, the convenience and accessi-
bility of CSG's farmer's market is a positive initiative in pro-
moting healthy eating and sustainability. Students should take
full advantage of this opportunity, and CSG should continue
to provide students healthy and affordable alternatives to the
typical college diet.
On Thursday, Sept. 13, CSG held afarmer's walking distance of central campus - finding
market in the Michigan Union's courtyard, a good variety of fresh produce has come to
in collaboration with University Unions, Uni- require asbus or car. A central location is espe-
versity Catering, University Health System, cially useful for underclassmen.
University Housing and Residential Dining The University's farmer's market, along
Services. The farmers market offered fruit with their AA counterparts, promotes sus-
and vegetables from local Michigan farms and tainability. Produce is from local farmers,
also offered cooking displays from University thus less resources are wasted as compared
chefs. Students were given free samples and to buying from out-of-state or from other
recipes to try on their own while local farm- countries. Teaching students how to cook
ers discussed crop challenges and shortages with local produce is a further step toward a
to educate students on sustainability. sustainable lifestyle.
The farmers market accepted payment with A farmer's market on campus makes
Blue Bucks, giving cash-strapped students an healthy eating a realistic option. As stu-
opportunity to use their meal plans on natural dents have incredibly busy schedules, fast
and unprocessed foods. Blue Bucks are regular- food is sometimes the only option for meals,
ly accepted at certain on-campus restaurants so it's good to see students take initiative to
such as Panda Express, Wendy's and Taco Bell promote nutritious eating habits. Now that
- not exactly the healthiest choices. s the option is available, students should take
For lost college students, walking is the advantage of this as much as possible. With
primary mode of transportation. Grocery the lifestyle of a college student, sometimes
shopping can become somewhat difficult for it's hard to eat healthy, but a campus farmers
students without a car. Since the closing of market makes it that much easier for students
White Market - the only grocery store within to do so.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Kaan Avdan, Eli Cahan, Nirbhay Jain, Jesse Klein, Melanie Kruvelis,
Patrick Maillet, Harsha Nahata, Timothy Rabb, Adrienne Roberts,
Vanessa Rychlinski, Sarah Skaluba, Michael Spaeth, Caroline Syms

More than just a minority

The events in Libya this past
week once again pushed a'
minority to the forefront
of national dia-
logue. Tensions
flared in the
Middle East as
anti-American
protests mani-
fested in multiple
countries. And
then, just as the HARSHA
news cycle was NAHATA
dying down from NAHATA_
this, a Newsweek
cover entitled
"Muslim Rage" pushed Islam back
into the spotlight.
On Sunday, Sept. 16, I was at a
summit for the Coalition for Tuition
Equality. The summit included rep-
resentatives from a wide variety of
organizations on campus, and CTE
took the opportunity to engage us in
a dialogue about social justice.
We were asked to talk about what
social justice means to us and what
issues of social justice we notice
around campus. When this question
came up, one of the girls in my small
group - Zeinab Khalil, President of
the Muslim Students' Association
- made an interesting point. She
mentioned that whenever anything
Islam-related happened around
the world, people automatically
expected MSA to comment on it or
in some cases condemn it. In many
of these instances, the events are far
removed from the students involved
in MSA - they're happening on the
other side of the world. But still MSA
was held to a different standard,
being treated not just as a student
group, but as something more - as
some sort of a corporation or coun-
try that was obliged to apologize or
condemn or respond to huge nation-
al and international political events.
This really struck me. I under-
stand why MSA is in this position.
Being a minority, they're ina unique
position to have an opinion on these
issues that people want to hear. But,
at the same time, it seems people are

forgetting that there's more to MSA
as an organization - there's more to
people than their minority status.
I'm Indian, and I remember
whenever the caste system used to
come up in Social Studies or His-
tory classes, teachers and classmates
would always look to me for a com-
ment. Even now, in political discus-
sions, whenever South Carolina Gov.
Nikki Haley or Louisiana Gov. Bobby
Jindal is mentioned, all heads auto-
maticallyturn my way. For some rea-
son, I'm expected to have thoughts
to share with my peers on all things
India-related.
The same can be said for the
shootings in Wisconsin. While they
were a truly tragic event and many
Sikh communities took the initia-
tive to speak out on their own, many
others also were expected to, by the
rest of us, simply because they were
the minority that was affected.
And in many cases minorities
do have a unique opinion on cer-
tain social and political issues,
especially those that affect them
more directly. But, that's not to
say they have an obligation to talk
about these issues every time they
come up or even an obligation to be
knowledgeable about them. Being a
minority is only one part of some-
one's identity. We all have varying
likes and dislikes and diverse inter-
ests.
Another student at the CTE dis-
cussion, Brock Grosso from Stu-
dents Organizing Against Prisons
built on this point. He emphasized
how the burden of explaining social
injustices and educating people
about these issues tends to fall on
the minorities affected. It's true
- we look to those who are disad-
vantaged to educate us about the
problems and barriers that they
face. We expect Muslims to raise
awareness about Islamophobia,
Sikhs to educate people on hate
crimes or Hispanics to fight the
immigration battle.
Being a minority isn't synony-
mous with being the face of an issue.

Just because someone comes from a
background that has ties to an issue
doesn't oblige them to be an expert
on the topic by any means. Yes,
being of a particular minority gives
one a unique perspective on issues
that more directly involve that
minority. And yes, often minori-
ties share a personal connection to
certain issues that can't be found
among others. Should they share
their unique perspective? Absolute-
ly. But that doesn't mean they have
to be singled out whenever that
issue comes up.
Being a minority
isn't synonymous
with being the
face of an issue.
Awareness of social justice issues
and political concerns isn't just the
responsibility of the minorities.
Regardless of who these issues are
impacting, we all have an obligation
to be aware of what's happening in
our societies and communities. And
if we ever want to make progress in
solving these issues, we all have to
make efforts to engage in learning
about them.
Minorities do come from back-
grounds different from the gen-
eral population - that's why they
are considered a minority. But we
often forget that that's not all they
are. Whether it's a racial minority,
ethnic, religious or socioeconomic
- being a minority is only one char-0
acteristic of identity. And while
most minorities don't mind discuss-
ing that aspect of their identity, it's
not something they should auto-
matically be expected to talk about
any time an opportunity comes up.
- Harsha Nahata can be
reached at hnahata@umich.edu.

WANT TO JOIN THE MICHIGAN DAILY?
There's only two mass meeting left: Tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 19 and Sun-
day, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Learn more about how to apply for each section,
and talk with managing editors about the process of becoming
a Daily staff member.
Votefor 'Change'

a

the
podium

Politicians' Speak: Have you heard the now infa-
mous "47 percent comment"? Harsha Nahata
analyzes what Romney said,
and how it affects you.
Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium
- SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM

Smoking ban brings privacy
pros and cons into question
TO THE DAILY:
I read the editorial regarding the smoking
ban with interest. No such thing existed when
I was a student at Michigan in the 1970s. I
began to smoke cigarettes when I was a soph-
omore. I managed to quit the New Year's after
my son was born in 1984.
I've seen the progression from warning
labels to the first smoking restricted areas,
to smoke-free workplaces, to cities banning
smoking in all restaurants, to cities banning
smoking altogether.
The stance taken by The Michigan Daily
is notable for its altruism and for the values
that guide the editorial board. Of course, this
is the way the world should work. Freedom
and choice is better than no freedom and no
choice. Self-enforcement is better than peer-
enforcement. A world without stigma is better
than one with stigma.
But, that isn't how the world works. As a
nation, we've been struggling with this ques-
tion for 50 years, going back to the early '60s
when the Surgeon General first publically
announced smoking's health risks. We're all
educated.
And we're all free ... mostly.
And smokers behave like addicts.
The Daily proposes the expense of dollars
and resources in an effort to reduce or elimi-

nate smoking, which are designed to affect this
voluntary behavior. Hardly seems fair to the
non-smokers. And, it won't work. It never has.
I only managed to quit when I put myself in
a position in which I had no choice. I couldn't
smoke. I found the lack of choice to be the only
effective means of quitting. Freedom, no mat-
ter how precious, was the enemy of the effort.
Absent a pricing solution that's beyond our
control, forced abstinence may be the only
guarantee of achieving the desired result.
I think the Daily is asking, or addressing,
the wrong question. Isn't the real question one
of cost and benefits? Is the societal cost of the
ban worth the results? Is that loss of freedom
worth the benefits of a smoke-free campus?
I think that's the only question, because the
voluntary versus non-voluntary question has
been settled.
All laws that restrict our freedoms should
be viewed in this light. Consider laws that
restrict drinking, freedom of speech, mari-
juana consumption or cigarettes.
As a society, we must place a very high value
on personal freedom and only enact laws that
restrict those freedoms when the benefits are
clear and well-articulated. Only then are we
able to makea decision based on the principles
of a free democracy.
Is the cost of the ban worth the expected
benefits? Tough question.
Jim Bush
1978 University alum

We've been in school for
two weeks now, and the
initial excitement that
accompanies
coming to Ann
Arbor for anoth-
er school year
is beginning to
be tempered by
the reality of
school. Even in
the short time E
since school
started, we've FERGUSON
all undoubtedly
heard about the
impending presidential election.
Elections always bring an air of
excitement to the fall season, but
this specific election is particularly
important and relevant to college
students. Nov. 6, 2012 will be our
opportunity to exercise a right that
people all over the world have died
for and continue to fight for. It's the
time we have a voice in choosing
who will hold what is arguably the
most powerful office in the world;
it's our chance to point the country
in a direction of our choosing. For
the first time in our lives, we will be
able to exercise one of the most fun-
damental rights guaranteed by the
American system - the rightto vote.
In this country, voting isn't just
"pretty much a big deal"- it's prob-
ably the biggest deal regarding gov-
ernance that Americans have ever
received. Every few years, Ameri-
can citizens have the option of
kicking out the sitting members of
legislature and the chief executive
and installing other people in their
places using votes. Such a regular
transfer of power, controlled by the
citizenry, simply doesn't exist in
many other countries around the
world. Our version of democracy

extends to the legitimacy of elec-
tions as well. Unlike many countries,
there is virtually no one saying that
our elections are illegitimate.
When you vote for a candidate,
you are effectively saying that you
would rather have that candidate
represent you in government than
anyone else on the ballot. Every one
of these candidates has some kind of
framework that specifies how he or
she will behave in office. Political
parties are a part of that framework,
providing a lens for voters to look at
candidates through. We therefore
have both the person and the party
platform to consider when deciding
how to cast our vote. Ourvoting sys-
tem is designed to result in the elec-
tion of officials who are qualified to
do their job and represent the largest
possible segmentof society. The way
our current government and elected
representatives have been acting
leaves the voters wanting more.
Theoretically, our fellow Ameri-
cans have elected to office people
who represent themselves. If so,
why does Romney have so much
support as a deficit reducer when
he lacks a specific plan to tackle the
issues most central to our budget
crisis? Why is budget sequestration,
a measure that will probably throw
our economy into another reces-
sion, being discussed by members
of Congress as an acceptable or even
preferable alternative to budgetary
compromise? And why did Obama
sign a potentially unconstitutional
measure allowing an indefinite
detention of Americans on Ameri-
can soil?
It's imperative that those of us
who are new voters keep all aspects
of our candidates in mind as we
decide who to vote for in this elec-
tion, no matter how uncomfortable

that may be. We can't change who
is on the ticket in November this
late in the election season, and as a
result, some voters may end up per-
ceiving their ballot as a long list of
choices between lesser evils. If that
situation arises, we, as new voters,
should seek compromise by voting
for a candidate who represents us
better than the other candidates,
and in the future help nominate
candidates who will do a better job
of representing our generation in
the government.
If you dislike
government for
any reason, vote
to change it.

0

0

Neither presidential campaign is
paying attention to this state, since
its electoral votes are very likely to
go to President Obama. That should
be completely irrelevant to voters of
any age. Voting isn't just about put-
ting someone in the White House
for a four-year period. Voting is
about having your own voice heard
on the local, state and national lev-
els of government. If you're a newly
eligible voter and having such a
voice doesn't appeal to you, think
of one thing you dislike about gov-
ernment in America. If even one
thing comes to your mind, where's
the sense in passing up your first
opportunity to do something 6
about it?
- Eric Ferguson can be
reached at ericff@umich.edu.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor. Letters should be fewer than
300 words and must include the writer's full name and University affiliation. We do
not print anonymous letters. Send letters to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

--the

0

web(T)MD: Apple's iOS 6 is avlailable today.
Does it actually matter?
Go to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium

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